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Brown to face the dragon's den in parliament

Article By: Staff Reporter

Tue, 30 Jan 2018 9:40 AM

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Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown is set to face tough questions in Parliament on Tuesday over governance issues in state-owned enterprises.

The chairpersons and chief executive officers of parastatals under her watch are also expected to appear before the portfolio committee and answer questions surrounding the fall-from-grace of the power utility.

The same committee has been conducting probes into Eskom’s former board and executive members and their involvement in State Capture. Those hearings are expected to continue today and will likely set the tone for Brown’s own session.

There have been calls for Brown's head, as state-owned enterprises sink further into financial ruin.

Despite appointing a new board, on Friday Eskom suffered another downgrade by ratings agency Moody's.

Following the downgrade, it was reported that loans given to the parastatal by the African Development Bank had been pulled back. However, Eskom has declined to comment stating that its financial record will shortly be published for public scrutiny.

Parliament's Public Enterprises committee will want a progress report from Brown on what's being done to address the problems at state-owned companies.

The inquiry will resume with testimony from former Prasa chief executive officer Lucky Montana.

He's already publicly distanced himself from evidence put before the inquiry last year, saying that he only met members of the controversial Gupta family when introduced by deputy Public Enterprises Minister Ben Martins.

Martins, who has been subpoenaed to appear before the committee on Wednesday, has also denied being at a meeting with Ajay Gupta, as claimed by Eskom company secretary, Suzanne Daniels.